


Harmless Acts of Rebellion

by sam_sam_17362



Category: Graceling Realm Series - Kristin Cashore
Genre: Baking bread, Bitterblue and Anna are friends, Bitterblue being mildly rebellious, But only if you squint, Gen, Letters, Rating May Change, Sneaking Out, Tags May Change, Varying Chapter Length, castle kitchens, castle libraries, implied Saf/Teddy, no beta we die like men, the stress of being a queen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-23
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-14 05:00:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29662113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sam_sam_17362/pseuds/sam_sam_17362
Summary: Bitterblue never got to be rebellious growing up. Thrust into queenhood at the tender age of 10, she was more focused on ruling her kingdom and undoing the corruption her father spread. She never had time to worry about relationships, making friends, sneaking out, or anything else other people worry about growing up.And when she was worrying about all that, it was overshadowed by truths coming to light and more work than she's ever had to deal with.So, now that her life has calmed down a bit, she figured she may as well do things for her own sake and for her own happiness.I was very bored and live in America so I can't go anywhere because of covid, so I figured why not do this lol. updates will probably be pretty inconsistant and so will chapter length, but i hope y'all enjoy it regardless! :)
Relationships: Bitterblue & Anna (Graceling realm), Bitterblue & Saf | Sapphire Birch (Graceling Realm), Bitterblue & Teddy | Teddren (Graceling Realm), Saf | Sapphire Birch & Teddy | Teddren (Graceling Realm)
Comments: 1





	Harmless Acts of Rebellion

Bitterblue still went to the kitchens occasionally. There was nobody there that she needed to talk to about some queenly thing or another, nothing she needed to get, and yet still she made a point to pop in and visit once in a while. She had her corner table that Anna had given her to knead bread when she needed to get the strength back in her broken arm, and it was there that she sat, watching the hustle and bustle of her castle kitchen as they started to prepare dinner. 

“Lady Queen. It’s always a pleasure to see you here.” Bitterblue was startled from her thoughts by Anna, the kitchens’ head baker, who was standing next to her with a warm smile. “Is there anything in particular that you needed, or have you just come to have a peek at what your dinner will be?” She said with a teasing lilt to her voice. 

“I will admit, it’s always nice to know what dinner will be ahead of everyone else, but I was actually wondering if you had some spare ingredients for a loaf of bread? I found it so relaxing to knead the dough you gave me and I figured I’d attempt a loaf myself if you have enough ingredients and a recipe for me.” Bitterblue said, still looking out at the people rushing about preparing what looked to be some kind of dish involving chicken and potatoes. She turned and looked up at Anna, smiling hopefully.

“Well, we always have bread ingredients, it’s very simple and I’m sure I could find you a good beginner’s recipe, but won’t people be looking for you? I know you have new advisors but I’m sure you don’t get a lot of free time, what with being the queen and all.” She said with a chuckle.

“Oh I’m sure someone will be along for me eventually but I did tell them I was going to the library for a little while, so hopefully that should stall the barrage of people looking to drag me back to my desk.” Bitterblue shook her head, “Sometimes I feel like even though my days are full of stuff I never actually do anything. So it’s nice to get out of my office for a bit and wander the castle.” 

Anna sighed and looked back towards Bitterblue, “I understand that particular brand of boredom and restlessness all too well. I’ll be right back with a recipe and ingredients Lady Queen.” She said with a smile before walking away.

As Bitterblue sat at her table in the corner of the kitchen, surrounded by people and sounds and smells, she felt truly relaxed for the first time in an awfully long time. She thought about how despite all the change she had implemented recently, she was still stuck in her office everyday, buried behind piles of paperwork. 

‘I haven’t seen Katsa or Po in what feels like forever, Giddon is with them making sure neither of them goes and gets themselves killed doing whatever illegal thing they’re doing now. I wish I could do more to help them,’ she thought sadly, ‘but, of course, anything more that what I do now would be entirely inappropriate for a queen.’

She was lifted from her thoughts as Anna returned with a large bowl, several bags of what she guessed were flour, salt, sugar, yeast, and whatever else one needed to make bread. Anna sat down across the table from her and pulled a worn piece of paper from her pocket, unfolded it, and passed it to Bitterblue. She then proceeded to take several spoons of various sizes from the bowl as Bitterblue unfolded and read the recipe. 

“Ok. Bread.” Anna said, setting her hands flat on the table, “The first step here is, of course, reading the recipe. I found you a pretty simple one that won’t take too long.”

“Thank you so much for doing this Anna,” Bitterblue said, as she pulled the bag of flour towards her and scooped out the amount the recipe called for. As she worked quietly on her bread, Anna helping occasionally, she lost herself in her thoughts, feeling more relaxed than she had in weeks. And when her advisors finally found her to collect her back to her office, she had a loaf of bread baking in the oven that Anna had promised to bring to her once it was done baking. 

Hours later, as she sat at her desk in her office, the bread she baked earlier was completely gone from her mind. She stared unseeing at a draft of an announcement regarding changes to the school system in the East City, reading and rereading the same paragraph. ‘This isn’t working,’ she thought with a sigh, resting her forehead on the desk in front of her. ‘I should visit Saf and Teddy. I never see them anymore other than to deliver new books to be printed. Last time I visited them at the shop must’ve been… what 3 weeks ago?’ She sighed again, leaned up, and stretched her arms over her head and adjusted herself in her seat. 

knock knock

“Lady Queen?”

The door opened to Anna, holding something wrapped in cloth. 

“Anna! You have such perfect timing, I desperately needed a break from all this paperwork.” 

Anna chuckled and handed the wrapped parcel to Bitterblue, “Well, your bread finished baking quite some time ago, and I only just now had time to bring it up to you.” 

“Oh! I had completely forgotten about that! I hope it turned out okay…” She said, unwrapping her bread. It was slightly wonky, and didn’t rise as much as it could’ve but it was bread. She stood there, admiring her creation for a moment before looking up at Anna. 

“We should try some.” 

Anna laughed, “We absolutely should Lady Queen.” 

And so they sat and ate the very first loaf of bread Bitterblue made and Bitterblue was happy with her small rebellious act of baking bread.

**Author's Note:**

> so heres the first chapter! i hope y'all enjoyed!  
> in case anyone was wondering, my inspo for this fic was how Bitterblue probably never got a normal childhood and how her definition of something rebellious is a little skewed. anyways see y'all in the next chapter, whenever that gets uploaded lol  
> please let me know if there are any spelling or grammar issues, i didn't have anyone else proofread this so i may have missed anything  
> as always, constructive criticism is always welcome :)


End file.
